Battery terminal



June 253, 1942. w. G. TENNEY 2,287,490

BATTERY TERMINAL Filed April 14, 1941 Patented June 23, 1.942 n UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE BATTERY TERMINAL William G. Tenney, Chicago, Ill.

Application April 14, 1941, Serial No. 388,472

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in a battery terminal, and hasfor its object the provision of connections which may be easily operatedwithin a limited space, and interference from obstructions caused bycorrosion or binding.

More detailed objects will appear in the following description and inthe drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view showing my terminal applied to aconventional battery in place under the oor board of a car;

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the terminal;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the terminal showing a cable attached theretoat one end;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal horizontal section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional View taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a transverse view in section taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 1 shows a battery B, which may be of the type conventionally usedin automobiles, mounted below a floor board I9 in a box formed by adepending bracket II secured at its end I2 to the under side of thefloor board by any customary means, now shown. Side straps I3 mayconnect v with the bracket to secure the battery against lateraldisplacement in the box. The space between the battery top and the underside of the iioor board is usually Very close, and the present terminalis peculiarly adapted to be used in such an environment. To effectuatethis improvement I have made the movable parts of my terminal, whichcomprises a body having a battery post attaching portion and a, cableattaching portion, operable in a plane adjacent and parallel to thebattery top.

The body I4 of my terminal is formed preferably of a yieldable materialsuch as bronze or the like, and from it extends a pair of integral armsI6 and Il, with confronting sides formed to fit about one of the postsI5 of the battery. At the end of each of the arms is a head a, the oneon the arm I'I being suiciently thick to accommodate a slot or chamberI8 in which is housed a nut I9. The chamber I8 is open at the end of thearm remote from the body to permit easy insertion or removal of the nut.

'I'he arms I6 and `|`I are adapted to be clamped around the post I5 withthe aid of a bolt 20 which is extended therebetween and therethrough. Itpasses through an opening 2l in the arm I6, and carries a thrust collar22 which may be screwed upon the bolt which also extends through a pairof registering yopenings 23 in the arm Il, one traversing each of thewalls on opposite sides of the chamber I8 and through the nut I9therein.

Movements of the two arms to either converging or diverging positionschanges the angle between them vand the bolt, as well as the clearancetherebetween. This condition will tend to cause binding of the arms uponthev bolt, and to avoid this difficulty I have made the openings 2| and23 of a diameter enough larger than that `of the bolt to permit the twoarms to advance toward or recede away from each other through theirnormal operating range of movement free of interference with the bolt.The loose engagement within the two arms permits the bolt to adjustitself freely Within the openings. Likewise the nut I9 is convex on itsopposite faces, and is accommodated loosely within the chamber I8,thereby permitting the nut to engage With the arm in its'variousadjusted positions Without binding. When the terminal is clamped uponthe post, there will be no binding of the bolt with the two arms, nor ofthe nut With the one arm with Which it cooperates. Similarly, the facesof the thrust collar 22 are convex and it is spaced suiciently from thehead .of the bolt 28 which is likewise convex Aon the surfaceconfronting the arm'IB, to permit vback and forth movement of the armI6. As here shown, I have threaded the bolt 20 from its end to a pointjust short of the arm I6. In this manner I determine the spacing of thethrust collar from the bolt head, screwing the collar tightly at the endof the threading.

When it is desired to remove the terminal from the post, a reversemovement of the bolt Will cause the .collar 22 to exert an outwardthrust against the inner face of the arm I6, and the nut I9 to exert anopposite thrust against the arm I'I, so that the two arms are forciblyspread.

This forces a loosening of the terminal from the post, and from thecorrosive material .that may have accumulated about the post.

My terminal also comprises a cable attaching portion disposed in thesame plane as the post attaching portion for releasably securing thecable Without the necessity of removing the terminal from the battery.This has the advantage of spacing the cable connecting means at a pointremote from the post, and makes the connecting or disconnecting of thecable a simple operation.

The cable attaching portion of the terminal comprises a pair of jawsjoined through registering openings in each by a connecting bolt 25 Witha head 26 at one end and a nut 21 near the other end. One jaw 23 whichis fixed extends from one end of the terminal body I4 and terminates inan elongated tongue 29 which is relatively thin in its dimension thatparallels the axis of the post that is clamped between the arms I6 andIl. The fixed jaw is shown as extending angularly from the terminal bodywhereby to form therewith a shoulder 30 adjacent the bolt head 26 toprevent rotation thereof. The mov-able jaw 3l is provided with a pair ofspaced cheeks 32 adapted to overlap the tongue 29 of the xed jaw whenthe two jaws are tightened over a lcable 33 inserted therebetween. Theoverall transverse dimension of the movable jaw is thereby held down toapproximately the same dimension as the terminal body itself.

The movable jaw 3| is here shown as formed of a separate piece ofmaterial bowed slightly outwardly from end to end. This jaw operates asa lever of the third class, the acting force, the bolt 25, being betweenthe resisting force, the cable 33, and the fulcrum 34, where the movablejaw rests on the xed jaw. This permits the movable jaw 3l to rock uponthe other, thus assuring a better clamp-ing engagement on the cable.

The engaging face 35 of the movable jaw is dome shaped, it being concavetransversely as shown in Fig. 5 thereby better to accommodate the cable,and concave longitudinally, as shown I in Fig. 4, to cooperate with theinner side of the xed jaw 28, which is convex longitudinally, in forcinga bend in the end of the cable 33, thereby better to secure it. At therear of the cavity between the jaws is a stop 3l, here shown as part ofthe fixe-d jaw, to serve as an abutment for the cable end which isclamped between the jaws.

The advantages of my construction are several. Due to its specialconstruction, and to its operability in a narrow space, itis adapted tofit into and be used under conditions which ordinarily makeaccessibility diiiicult.

I claim:

1. A battery terminal comprising a body having a battery post attachingportion comprising a pair of arms adapted for movement toward and fromeach other, there being a pair of registering openings in the two arms,a threaded bolt passing through the openings of a diameter suicientlyless than that of the openings to permit the bolt at a distance from thehead su'cient for permitting free movements of the two arms angularlywith res-pect to the bolt axis, the opposite faces of the nut, thecontacting faces of the thrust collar, and the contacting face of thebolt head being of convex shape whereby to permit such faces to engagewith the adjacent plane arm surfaces in Various adjusted positionsthereof at points relatively close to the openings therethrough.

2. A battery terminal comprising a body having a battery post attachingportion comprising a pair of arms adapted for movement toward and fromeach other, there being a pair of registering openings in the two arms,a threaded bolt passing through the openings of a diameter suicientlyless than that of the openings to permit the two arms to move towardland from each other without binding on the bolt, one of the arms beingrecessed inwardly from its end to provide a hollow chamber communicatingwith the opening therein, a nut .received within the chamber adapted forthreaded engagement with the bolt, a head on the bolt in engagement withthe other arm, a thrust collar vadjacent the inner side of the arm lastnamed, and means for permitting adjustment of the thrust collar on thebolt at a distance from the head sufficient for permitting freemovements of the two arms angularly with respect to the bolt axis, oneof each of the contacting faces of the bolt head and arm, the collar andarm, and the nut and arm being convexly curved to permit rockingmovement of one face on the other.

3. A battery terminal comprising a body having a battery post attachingportion comp-rising a pair of arms adapted for angular movement towardand from each other, there being a pair of registering openings in thetwo arms, a threaded bolt passing through the openings of a diametersufficiently less than that of the openings to permit the two arms toangularly move toward and from each other through their normal operatingrange without 'binding on the bolt, one of the arms being recessedinwardly from its end to provide a hollow chamber communicating with theopening therein, a nut loosely received within the chamber adapted forthreaded engagement with the bolt, a head on the bolt in engagement withthe other arm, a thrust collar adjacent the inner side of the arm lastnamed, and means for permitting adjustment of the thrust collar on thebolt at a distance from the head sufficient for permitting freemovements of the two arms angularly with respect to the bolt axis, oneof each of the contacting faces of the bolt head and arm, and the collarand arm being convexly curved, and the nut being shaped and the nutedges being spaced sufciently from the co-acting face of the .chamberwall to permit rocking movement of the contacting faces one on theother.

WILLIAM G. TENNEY.

